Ship of the Dead
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: The 'Anubis' had been named after the Egyptian god of the dead. In retrospect, it was a name that was well earned.


**Ship of the Dead**

The _Anubis_ stank to high heaven.

An exaggeration, Vela knew, and not technically possible. For one thing, as bad as the smell on the _Anubis_ was, it wasn't so bad that it could break the barriers of space and time and reach a supposed happy place of sunshine, rainbows, and obnoxiously puffy clouds. Also, even if you left theology and cosmology to the side, the smell of the _Anubis_ was confined to the _Anubis_ , in that smell couldn't travel through the vacuum of space. And finally, even if it could, where was "high heaven" in space anyway? What constituted as "up" depended on one's orientation. So while standing in the loading dock of Mizar's ship, she knew that "up" for her was what would be "up" if she was standing on a planet – the roof was above her, and therefore, "up." However, the _Galatea_ was orientated in the opposite position to the _Anubis_ , so what was "up" for her was "down" for Captain Iseni.

 _Getting a headache._

She popped a pill, and within seconds, her headache began to clear up. If Juno had asked, she'd have told him that no, it wasn't because of the strain of understanding the laws of the universe (her maths was quite good thanks), it was rather the combination of weeks spent with little food, drink, or sleep. Over those weeks, she, her brother, and Lupus had singlehandedly freed the tribals, slain Mizar (or destroyed Mizar, since it was Barry that had been controlling him), and saved Earth. All without any help from the Federation, thank you very much. Without any help of people like Captain Iseni.

"Vela."

Or Commander Geralt.

She didn't smile at the man. She just gave him the same scowl she'd given to all the Federation marines that had boarded the ship under her direction. Was it their fault that they hadn't been here for the fight? No, but she was only human, and could only keep her emotions in check so much. Jet Force Gemini had been ravaged by Mizar's forces, and if the Federation had committed itself from the start…well, chances were that she and her team wouldn't be the only survivors. Chances were that Floyd would still be alive.

"Commander Geralt," she murmured, seeing the commander come over to her.

The Federation wouldn't mourn Floyd. When it came to saving Earth, she, her brother, and her cybernetic dog would be the heroes, not a rogue sentry of Mizar's that had developed a conscience. She would mourn him, remember him, but she was just one person in a galaxy of trillions.

"How you holding up?" the commander asked.

"Fine. Have a headache though."

A lie, but she was fine with lies right now.

"Oh. I have some-"

"Said I'm fine," Vela said, forcing a smile. "Survived the hordes of Mizar, think I can survive a headache."

She saw Geralt squirm at the mention of Mizar. _Good_.

"Well, offer's still open."

"I'll keep that in mind."

An uneasy silence remained between them. Well, uneasy for Geralt at least. She could tell that he was uncomfortable, and that did her heart some good. She didn't consider herself a vindictive person, but after seeing what Mizar and his forces had done to the tribals, after what he'd nearly done to Earth…she had to get some joy somewhere. Even if she knew that Geralt was just an XO, and couldn't have done anything without breaking rank. And yet…

And yet the _Galatea_ was a _Pegasus_ -class battlecruiser – one of the mightiest ships in the Federation Fleet. It could have annihilated the _Anubis_ with a single volley of anti-matter warheads. Not that that would have been the best course of action, considering the number of tribals that had been onboard, and yet…it hurt. It hurt to know that she'd been captured here weeks ago. That her brother had to fight through hell and high water to free her, and that it had been weeks until they came back here and freed the remaining tribals. Now, an entire company of Federation marines were scouring the ship for any remaining tribals or drones. They hadn't found any of the former, and only a few of the latter.

"Place really stinks, doesn't it?" Geralt asked.

The smile became that of a shark. "Don't I know it?"

They'd found a few drones and gunned them down where they stood. As the air circulation system was still operational, that had only increased to the stench that permeated Mizar's supply ship.

"Anyway," Geralt said. "Thought you ought to know, my men have nearly finished sweeping the ship."

"And?" Vela asked.

"And once we've exfiltrated the vessel, the _Galatea_ will scuttle it."

Vela nodded and looked away. "Scuttle." Well, she supposed that was a more simple word than "blow it to hell." She'd have supposed a lot more, but she felt the commander put a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, eyes aflame.

"Must help, right?" Geralt asked. "To know that this ship won't be here soon?"

She shoved his hand aside. "Haven't thought about it much."

"Yeah, but…" He looked and sounded uneasy, and to Vela's annoyance, he was digging his own grave rather than just shutting up. "How's your brother?"

"Fine. He's on Goldwood with Lupus. Federation's good for rebuilding at least."

"Yeah, the Corps of Engineers is…" Geralt sighed. "Listen, I can imagine how you feel. I mean, you had to fight Mizar alone while-"

"No, you really don't."

Geralt blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"You don't know how it feels," Vela said. "You don't know how it is to fight for weeks on end in the knowledge that the body you serve isn't willing to lift a finger to help you. You don't know what it's like to see an entire race enslaved. To fight, even in knowing you can't save them all. You don't know what it's like to hear your fellow squadron members over the radio, screaming, while-"

"Actually I do," Geralt murmured. "Least that last part."

She drew back. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Don't be. As you said, I don't know what it feels like." He sighed, looking over his shoulder at one of the dropships in the bay. "Won't pretend the _Galatea_ couldn't have made a difference, but, well, hey, fireworks should be nice."

Vela didn't say anything. Fireworks were pretty, but they made sounds as well. Space would take out half the fun.

And yet, she had to admit, it would be good to see the _Anubis_ gone. This ship had been the purveyor of pain and misery. No different from any other ship in Mizar's fleet, but damn it, she'd been here as a prisoner. Not as long as the tribals, but long enough to feel hopeless. To have that feeling cut through her as a plasma bolt might through flesh. Yes, she thought. It would definitely be good to see this ship gone. For the _Anubis_ to be true to the god of its namesake and be ferried away to join the dead. Unmourned, and unremembered.

For what was it but a ship of the dead?


End file.
